


peachy keen, james dean

by eraseallpicturesofron



Series: The Ficlet Instruments [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Actor Alec Lightwood, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Closeted Character, M/M, Private Investigator Magnus Bane, and clearly googled 1950s slang, the romantic act of sharing a cigarette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:20:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eraseallpicturesofron/pseuds/eraseallpicturesofron
Summary: "Are you happy?""Is anyone? I'm peachy keen, baby."(or: upon investigating threats against a starlet's life, Magnus opens the heart of a Hollywood heartthrob.)





	peachy keen, james dean

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [sh_ficletinstruments](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sh_ficletinstruments) collection. 

> **Prompt:**  
A weary, cynical P.I. gets a new case.
> 
> I don't know what film noir is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask. Almost used the slang phrase "flutter bum" in this. Never seen a James Dean movie. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

After years on the job, every case was the goddamn same, and Magnus failed to remember the day he had stopped pitying his clientele and took their money without a second thought. He would have quit ages ago if it weren’t for the satisfying paycheck out of the pockets of people who didn’t deserve to hold onto the money. 

But then there was Alec Lightwood. 

Star of the silver screen, incredibly easy on the eyes, owner of the hearts of hundreds of teenage girls, and sitting in the passenger seat of Magnus’s station wagon, minutes before midnight, in an abandoned alleyway lit by a singular streetlight.

He came to Magnus three weeks earlier, concerned about threats to Lydia Branwell’s life, but there was something about his gentle smile and flustered speak that contrasted his public persona and drew Magnus in; he was quite charmed by Alec, which only made it tough to tell him what he had seen.

Passing him a freshly lit cigarette, Magnus admitted, “Alexander, your wife is having an affair.”

Six-and-a-half years on the job had far from prepared Magnus for Alec’s measured response, his face stony and eyes focused on the cigarette between his fingers. 

“I know.”

“_You know_ that your wife is playing backseat bingo with another man?”

“His name’s John,” Alec shrugged, “I didn’t ask you to look into Lydia’s affairs, just the threats.”

“Usually this is when the husband tell me to get bent. I wasn’t expecting Hollywood’s golden couple to be-”

“A sham?” Alec finished, taking another drag from the cigarette, which Magnus had long realized was more of a coping mechanism than a pastime. 

Though years of the job had taught him to keep work and emotions separate, and he thought that his pity well had run dry, he found himself asking, “Are you happy?”

“Is anyone? I’m peachy keen, baby,” Alec laughed without a hint of humor, sounding more like his red carpet alter ego, before softening, “She’d be ruined if anyone knew about him. And I-” his eyes instinctively flicker to Magnus’s lips, as they had several times in the past, before cutting himself off. He didn’t need to say it and Magnus didn’t need to guess.

“Just better this way.”

“Rather brave of you.”

Alec scoffed, tilting his head back and exhaling a long puff of smoke, “Brave? Please. I’m nothing more than a candy ass.”

“You run circles around most of the men I’ve met on this job.”

In the dimly lit alleyway and beneath the shadow of Alec’s hat, Magnus couldn’t see that the compliment had brought a pink tint to his cheeks, touching him in a way that no amount of fame or fortune ever could. 

“I trust you’ll keep quiet about… everything,” Alec whispered, taking the cigarette from his lips and handing it back to Magnus, who raised it to his own lips and allowed himself, for the first time in too long, to smile.

“To you, pretty boy, I give my word.”

**Author's Note:**

> hey! if you liked it, you should drop your thoughts into the comments! kudos are much appreciated as well :)


End file.
